FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5/1/2014
Councilmember Sally J. Clark
City Council to begin review of Minimum Wage proposal Monday, May 5
SEATTLE – City Council’s Select Committee on the Minimum Wage and Income Inequality will begin its review of Mayor Ed …

Seattle – Councilmember Sally J. Clark and her colleagues will host a meeting on Wednesday, April 9 in City Council Chambers to hear input from restaurateurs and the public relating to raising the minimum wage in Seattle. Restaurant owners and others will share their thoughts with Councilmembers on raising the city’s minimum wage.

For a complete list of additional meeting dates, including a meeting on Saturday, April 12 on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality, visit the Council’s Minimum Wage webpage (meetings are subject to change).

Seattle – Councilmember Sally J. Clark and her colleagues will host a meeting on Saturday, April 12 at Northgate Community Centerto hear input from the public relating to raising the minimum wage in Seattle. Presenters will report on income inequality findings specific to Seattle at the top of the meeting. Following the discussion, the public will have an opportunity to break into smaller group discussions with Councilmembers.

Presenters: Marieka M. Klawitter and Robert D. Plotnick, University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs; Ken Jacobs, University of California – Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

The City Council’s Select Committee on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality will have its next meeting on Tuesday, April 29 at 9:30 a.m. in City Council Chambers.

For a complete list of additional meeting dates, including a lunchtime discussion with restaurateurs on Wednesday, April 9, visit the Council’s Minimum Wage webpage(meetings are subject to change).

“My experience on Council has been that every few years something about taxi regulations gets to the point where something has to be fixed. Realizing that avoiding a comprehensive fix is no longer possible, today my Council colleagues and I took decisive action.

“What we’re voting on today isn’t a complete fix, but it’s a start. The first meeting of the Taxi, Limo, For-Hire Committee (March 14, 2013), started out of a need to resolve conflict between the taxis and the flat-rates and to better fund enforcement of the rules governing the existing, legacy players. The committee was tasked quickly with a different question: how do we bring new players with different business models into a regulatory framework built for a different time?

“Since that time we’ve heard hours of testimony at the microphone; contracted for a study of the Seattle market to get a better idea of the demand for alternatives to the personal automobile and bus; and, been deluged with calls and emails. Through all of this we’ve attempted to ground our work in three goals: Safety, consumer protection, and expanded mobility.

“Customers want more choices and better service. TNC vehicles will now become a legal choice with appropriate driver, vehicle and insurance safeguards.

“The limited access to taxi licenses in Seattle and King County coupled with driver and vehicle regulations that haven’t kept up with contemporary service expectations and technology, made disruption not only inevitable, but welcomed by many drivers and riders. We’ll change that by releasing more taxi licenses and revamping driver training and vehicle checks.

“We have much more work to do with respect to driver training, safety and customer service, vehicle licensing and re-licensing. We will be working with Mayor Murray as we track the impacts on passengers and drivers. I’m glad to see his commitment to quick and focused revamping of the city’s for-hire regulations, and I hope King County regulators, our partners in all of this, are as excited as we are to crack open licensing.

“In cities across the United States and other parts of the globe, companies have chosen to launch first, ask questions later. Every city and state looks to be playing out the same debate as we’re having here. In Seattle, we’ve now defined the regulatory framework under which UberX, Lyft, Sidecar and their followers can operate legally in the city. These rules recognize that times are changing – and that safety and consumer protection never go out of style.”

Seattle – City Councilmembers will host a Town Hall on Wednesday, March 5 to hear input from the public relating to raising the minimum wage in Seattle. The meeting will be jointly-sponsored with the Mayor’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee. This will be the first official public forum for Seattleites to share their thoughts on the concept of raising the city’s minimum wage.

Each member of the public will have up to 2 minutes to address Councilmembers, committee members and the town hall audience. Public comment sign-up sheets will be available in the building’s lobby at 5:00 p.m.

The City Council’s Select Committee on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality will have the second of nine scheduled meetings to discuss the issue on Friday, March 21 at 9:30 a.m. in City Council Chambers. For future meeting dates, visit the Council’s Minimum Wage webpage (meetings are subject to change). A video recording of the hearing will be available on the webpage after 4 p.m. on Friday, March 7.

SEATTLE – South Seattle Community College announced today the expansion of the 13th Year Promise Scholarship to Rainier Beach High School. The 13th Year Promise Scholarship guarantees that every graduate can attend South Seattle Community College tuition-free in their first year. The 13th Year Promise Scholarship program started with Cleveland High School in 2008 and expanded to Chief Sealth International High School in 2011. Nearly one-third of all graduates from these two schools have attended college thanks to the program.

The special announcement was made earlier today as a surprise to high school seniors at Rainier Beach. South Seattle Community College President Gary Oertli, South Foundation Chair Gene Colin, and Rainier Beach High School Principal Dwane Chapelle were joined by Councilmember Bruce Harrell and Council President Sally J. Clark in the announcement.

“Every child in Seattle should be provided the opportunity to go to college after high school,” said Councilmember Harrell. “I want our youth to be empowered to see opportunity beyond high school, have the confidence to obtain higher education and earn living wage jobs.”

“The 13th Year Promise Scholarship inspires high school students who might have given up on the idea of going to college to think again,” said Council President Clark. “The program has made a difference in the lives of scores of students from Cleveland and Chief Sealth high schools. I’m excited the program is expanding to Rainier Beach.”

By 2020, 75 percent of living wage jobs will require some form of post-secondary education, whether at two and four-year colleges, trade or technical schools. More than a quarter of Seattle’s high school graduates don’t go on to college in the year after they graduate. Fifty-percent of 13th Year students said they would not have attended college if not for the 13th Year Promise Scholarship. At Cleveland High School, the on-time graduation rate has increased from 44.5% in 2007-2008 to 76% in 2012.

The 13th Year Promise Scholarship program is funded from the South Seattle Community College Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3), through a combination of financial aid and private philanthropic donations.